


Quiet Yule

by Oakwyrm



Series: Training Dragons in TI [9]
Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Crushes, Dancing, M/M, Polar Night, Snowball Fight, Yule, tiweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-08 22:45:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12874647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakwyrm/pseuds/Oakwyrm
Summary: Zalvetta has never really liked the Yule Celebrations. They're loud, they're full of people, and they're a time of year when it's expected you spend at least some time with family. Gregor knows all of this and helps where he can.





	Quiet Yule

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck Snoggletog they're celebrating Yule.

It was a blessed period of unexplained peace, those few days in midwinter when the dragons disappeared. No one was quite sure where they went or why, but no one was about to complain either. It gave the village a much-needed break during the dark winter months and coincided nicely with Yule. In general, it was a pleasant time of the year, aside from the freezing cold and occasional blizzard forcing everyone to dig themselves out of their homes if they needed to get anywhere else.

The feasting hall was alive with light and laughter. Great tables of food and drink were set out, people were scattered about the hall in groups or alone, talking or eating. In one corner someone had struck up a half-drunken song.

Zalvetta sat on the steps outside, most of the noise blocked out by the great wooden doors. For once he was properly bundled up to avoid the cold and on either side of him fires burned in the great lanterns, giving off enough warmth to keep him quite content.

The rest of the village was silent, everyone either already asleep or at the banquet. The moon was full, adding its light to that of the aurora twisting in the sky. The snow on the ground glittered in the pale light, illuminating the endless night further. Still, Zalvetta wasn't above admitting that he missed the sun, though it would not show its face again for a month.

The door to the feasting hall creaked open behind him, sending a further wave of warmth his way. Gregor walked out, pulling his cloak around himself as he did so.

“Can I join you?” he asked. Zalvetta looked up at him and shrugged.

“Sure.” He moved over slightly and Gregor sat down next to him. In truth, he would always welcome Gregor's presence, but the question was appreciated. He didn't particularly want to spend the entire Yule celebration alone, but there was only so much he could handle when it came to socializing and he needed a break. Gregor understood this and they fell into a comfortable silence.

The wind blew softly past them, pulling up some of the lighter snow and sending it into a flying dance. Zalvetta moved closer to Gregor, his eyes fixed on a point far out to sea. The night sky above them shone and glittered and if it hadn't been for the murmur of voices in the hall Zalvetta would have felt like they were the only two people in existence at that moment. He shivered slightly.

Gregor frowned. “Are you cold?”

Zalvetta shook his head. “I'm ok. Just thinking. It's a nice night.” He gestured vaguely to the clear sky above them.

“Zalvetta it's been night for a month.”

Zalvetta rolled his eyes fondly. “You know what I mean.” Gregor laughed a soft and affectionate laugh. Zalvetta resolutely ignored the way his heart warmed when he heard it.

Inside the hall the murmur of voices died away as a woodwind started up a familiar tune, soon to be joined by strings. Zalvetta blinked, looking back at the door. He hadn't thought it was time for the dances just yet. He turned back to Gregor, a concerned expression on his face. The Yule dances had always been a favourite of Gregor's, at least to watch. He didn't participate all that often.

“You don't have to miss the dance for my sake,” he said. Gregor looked surprised for a mere moment before he grinned, something Zalvetta couldn't quite place shining in his eyes.

“Who says we can't dance out here?” he asked. Zalvetta blinked.

“Gregor two people don't make a circle,” he said flatly.

Gregor shrugged. “Do we need a circle?”

Zalvetta glanced back at the doors, considering the question. Traditionally there should be more than just one pair of dancers on the floor. Then again tradition was, in general, a largely unnecessary thing.

“You know what? You're right.” He stood up and extended his hand to Gregor, a slight smile playing across his features. “Dance with me?”

“Of course.” Gregor took Zalvetta's offered hand and let himself be swept into the steps of the dance. The music drifting out to them from the hall guided their movements, even muffled as it was. It started slow but quickly gained speed. Their footfalls were light and quick over the snow-covered ground.

They moved as a unit with practised ease, though they had never danced together before. Their coordination came instead from training and sparring. Even so, they stumbled in some places as they tried to adapt the dance designed for a ring of people to a pair on the fly. A wrong step here, a bump of the shoulders there. Not that this would stop them. Despite any missteps, they danced, moving around each other with an odd grace despite the imperfections in their movements.

“Are you sure you're ok?” Gregor asked as they rejoined at the end of a few steps of the dance that required they move away from each other. Zalvetta hid his surprise at the question resurfacing, his steps continuing in time with Gregor's.

“Even if I wasn't before, does that really matter?” he asked, letting go of Gregor again as they spun around each other.

“Yes?” Gregor sounded almost offended, though not with Zalvetta personally, more with the mere notion that Zalvetta's feelings might not matter. “It does.” The tone of his voice made it clear he would not budge on this. Zalvetta laughed lightly, taking Gregor's hand, the dance continuing without a problem while they talked.

“Thank you. I really am ok, though.” His tone was truthful and Gregor relaxed a bit. As if on cue the music from inside began to wind down as the song came to a close.

“Do you want to stay for the next one?” Gregor asked. Zalvetta shook his head.

“This was nice but I think the next one is a little too fast for us to keep up with changing it as we go.” He was proven right in the next moment when a fiddle struck up the first chord of the most fast-paced dance they had.

Gregor shifted his hold on Zalvetta's hand as they walked away from the hall, all sound of music disappearing into the distance leaving them with only the sound of the wind and the snow creaking beneath their feet. They walked in silence until they reached the point where they'd usually say goodbye to go their separate ways.

Zalvetta paused for a second, assessing the situation. Gregor was looking up the path to his own home, his back turned to Zalvetta. Taking this chance Zalvetta quickly let go of Gregor's hand and grabbed a handful of snow.

“Hey Gregor,” he grinned. “Head's up!”

Gregor turned just in time to get a hastily and loosely-packed snowball to the chest. He looked surprised for just a second before he registered what had happened. Then he looked determined.

“You're on,” he said, grabbing a handful of snow.

Zalvetta ducked the incoming snowball, scooping up more ammunition as he did so. Gregor ducked behind one of the larger snowdrifts. A snowball sailed over his cover, curving and almost landing on his head.

“Missed me!” he called as he took a chance, diving briefly out of cover to take a shot at Zalvetta. The snowball hit Zalvetta's shoulder as he tried to avoid it. Gregor rolled quickly back into cover, a giddy feeling rising in his chest. It had been too long since he, or anyone for that matter, had had a chance for some harmless fun.

Momentarily distracted as he was, he missed the incoming snowball until it landed neatly on his head. He stood up and shook the snow off himself, grabbing a fresh snowball and lobbing it at Zalvetta. Apparently, he'd managed to surprise Zalvetta with this, because the snowball hit him square in the chest.

The hit didn't even faze him and they were quickly back in the thick of it. Snowballs hit the walls of empty houses as shots were missed, snow was kicked up as they tried to dodge each other's shots. They could have done better, of course, they knew how to fight in the snow, but neither of them was particularly in the mood for a sparring match right then.

Zalvetta was the first of them to tire, as he usually was. He ducked the final snowball from Gregor and sat down in a snowdrift, breathing out slowly. Gregor walked over and let himself fall down into the soft snow next to Zalvetta.

“That was fun,” Zalvetta said, looking back up to the sky. Gregor hummed an agreeing noise. They fell into a comfortable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the night. All they could really hear in that moment was the wind in the trees. The earth itself seemed to be sleeping while the people of Berk celebrated.

It was Zalvetta who broke the silence. “We should probably get going.” He got to his feet, brushing most of the snow off himself. Gregor jumped up and shook himself off.

“Do you maybe want to sleep over at my place?” he asked, brushing more snow out of his hair. Zalvetta stopped for a second, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt at the sudden and unexpected offer. Gregor shifted his gaze properly to Zalvetta, waiting for a response.

“Oh. Yes, sure, yeah. Should we swing by my house to pick up a change of clothes?” he asked. He would need to change. Most of the clothes he was wearing would get very wet very fast once they were back indoors.

“Do you want to?”

“Not really, no.” Zalvetta's tone was flat. Gregor nodded.

“You can borrow some of mine.” He smiled, reaching out to take Zalvetta's hand again and start them on the path up the hill to the Chief's house. And if Gregor's smile in that moment made Zalvetta stop missing the sun for a while, well, that was no one's concern but Zalvetta's.

**Author's Note:**

> Also yes this does all take place before the story proper and therefore before these two get their shit together.


End file.
